The Euro, the Dollar and the New Gold Rush

Currencies are always changing, fluctuating and being replaced every few decades or centuries. It's in their nature, therefore counting on their perpetual enduring power is not only wrong, but also very dangerous. Currently, we're are living in times of major change and upheaval: the world's two most used currencies have been facing turmoil, the results of which would probably change the way economy looks for ever. The US dollar has been lower than the Euro for almost a decade now, and the Euro itself represents what we just said, a new monetary tool that replaced several historical European ones, consolidating all of them into one.

It's not a mystery anymore that everyone is going after gold nowadays, its price has reached unprecedented levels (about $1,300 per ounce) and people are still buying. Is it the end of a new gold rush or just the signal of something greater waiting to happen? Like a major war or a new world order of historical proportions? The banks in New York are reopening their vaults after nearly two decades and gold is flowing in from all over the world, while mines are the biggest investments of major funds and institutions. Historically we saw such movement before something grave occurred. So what should we do? How can the regular citizen know what is coming next? Unfortunately they can't. The only thing to do is too keep an educated eye on the changes and try to limit the damages to your bottom line.

One American Dollar

The real problem is that if a true change occurs in the Dollar or the Euro, besides the ordinary fluctuation, the impact on society can be very drastic. Psychologically, Americans will have to live for the first time in their history with a different currency, because something outside of the United Sates dictated such change. At the moment, the exchange rate in favor of the Europeans is actually helping American exports and the commodities, all priced in dollars, are consequently reaching higher prices. This shows that the system is obsolete; in a unified world economy, where laws and rules have become the same and where stock markets can be influenced by a sneeze on the other side of the world, it is really important to reconsider the overall money scenario.

In the case of Italy and Europe the solution was strong, firm and very powerful, but perhaps it's now time to extend that to the rest of the world. This is an issue that divides and confuses, but seems likely to be solved by the market itself. For Europeans the Euro was at first seen as a boon, allowing for convenient shopping, but as prices have leveled out this no longer seems to be the case. Instead the Euro has been a big burden on Europeans domestically, especially in countries like Italy where things basically doubled in price overnight. When 1 Euro replaced 1000 Liras the actual exchange value was set at 1,936 Liras meaning that the money of ordinary Italians was suddenly worth much less.

The Euro hurt citizens on a personal level, but helped the Italian economy in a broader sense, helping to recalculate the national debt that is still among the largest in the world. The efforts that the EU has put behind the Euro means it's nearly impossible to go back, although there was some friction not too long ago between EU members. But, once again, the real game is with the U.S. rather than with history itself.

A last note, that is more grammatical than economical, is about the actual word Euro; it is spelled Euro in every language and it doesn't have a plural, therefore technically the word Euros is wrong, although widely used in English especially in America. There was a specific motion on this regard by the EU Parliament and everybody voted in favor of not using the plural.